Editing Prajapati (section)

{{pp|small=yes}}
{{Short description|Vedic deity identified with Brahma}}
{{distinguish|Pashupati}}
{{hatnote|For other uses, see [[Prajapati (disambiguation)]]}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2017}}{{Use Indian English|date=July 2017}}
[[File:Prajapati.JPG|thumb|[[Brahma]] as Prajapati with the same iconographical features of Brahma, a statue from [[Tamil Nadu]]]]
{{Hinduism}}
'''Prajapati''' ({{langx|sa|प्रजापति |lit=Lord of the people}}, {{IAST3|Prajāpati}}) is a [[Vedas|Vedic]] deity of [[Hinduism]]. He is later identified with [[Brahma]], the creator god.<ref name="Dalal2010p311"/><ref name="Williams2008p234"/><ref name="Lochtefeld2002p518">{{cite book|author=James G. Lochtefeld|title=The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Hinduism: N-Z|url=https://archive.org/details/illustratedencyc0000loch |url-access=registration|year=2002|publisher=The Rosen Publishing Group|isbn=978-0-8239-3180-4|pages=[https://archive.org/details/illustratedencyc0000loch/page/518 518]–519}}</ref>

Prajapati is a form of the creator-god Brahma, but the name is also the name of many different gods, in many Hindu scriptures, ranging from the creator god Brahma to being the same as one of the following deities: [[Vishvakarma]], [[Agni]], [[Indra]], [[Daksha]], and many others,<ref name="Dalal2010p311" /> because of the diverse [[Hindu cosmology]].<ref name="Williams2008p234" /> In classical and medieval era literature, Prajapati is the metaphysical concept called [[Brahman]] as Prajapati-Brahman, and Brahman is the primordial matter that made Prajapati.<ref>{{cite book|author=Sukumari Bhattacharji|title=The Indian Theogony |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lDc9AAAAIAAJ |year=2007|publisher=Cambridge University Press|pages=322–323, 337, 338, 341–342}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.wisdomlib.org/definition/prajapati | title=Prajapati, Prajāpati, Prajāpatī, Praja-pati: 30 definitions | date=28 September 2010 }}</ref>